Published: October 18, 2006 10:10 pm         

Concert to draw attention to missing Hoosiers

TERRE HAUTE — Scott Javins has been missing for more than four years, but he is being remembered tonight along with other missing Hoosiers at a concert in Indianapolis.

The concert is part of the “Squeaky Wheel Tour,” organized by “GINA for Missing Persons,” an organization started by singer-songwriter Jannel Rap. Rap’s sister, musician Regina Bos, disappeared after performing at a pub in Lincoln, Neb., in 2000.

Javins disappeared after leaving a late-night party at 22nd Street and First Avenue on May 24, 2002. His parents, Merv and Doreena Javins of Terre Haute, look at the concert as a way to keep their son’s name in the news and as a way to show support for others who have a loved one who has gone missing.

“Someday we will find an answer,” said Doreena Javins. “We never give up.”

“We really have a heart for Scott,” said Rap, whose organization has drawn attention to hundreds of missing persons over the past few years. Around 50 people profiled on the organization’s Web site, www.411Gina.org, have been found since 2001, according to the site.

Thursday night’s concert in Indianapolis will be at Clancy’s Pub on South Emerson Avenue. It will feature 80’s music performed by Rok Hollywood and Naked Beggars, which features two musicians from the popular 80’s rock/metal band Cinderella.

“We’ve got a whole 80’s night going on,” said Keri Dattilo, a Madison native now living in California who is organizing the concert for GINA. Dattilo’s cousin, Molly Dattilo, then 22, disappeared in 2004 after calling a friend from a pay phone on Crawfordsville Road in Indianapolis around 11 p.m.

“[When] the friend went to answer … the phone was disconnected,” Dattilo said. “After that [whatever happened] remains a mystery to us.” Dattilo’s family is sure foul play was involved, she said.

In all, 13 Hoosiers are profiled on the GINA Web site and several of them will be noted at tonight’s concert. Some have been missing for many years, including Debra Ann Wilhite, who went missing from Gibson County in 1974. Most, however, like Javins, have been missing only a few years.

Around 190 Squeaky Wheel concerts are planned for the tour, which began in mid-October and will last through November. Different musicians are performing at venues in nearly all 50 states and in eight foreign countries, including Ireland, Britain, Germany, Sweden, Japan and Australia.

“By doing the local events we are actually getting national attention,” said Rap. Two weeks ago, four people profiled by her organization were found, alive and well, she said.

In addition to raising awareness about missing people, the Squeaky Wheel tour also helps bring people together who have a missing person in their family. Groups such as GINA and the CUE Center for Missing Persons in North Carolina also help these people with information and support.

“There are no written instructions for what to do” when someone you care about goes missing, Dattilo said.

Arthur Foulkes can be contacted at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.